Power Rangers: Mystic Force Flock
by Maleficent-darkgoodwitch2416
Summary: The PRMF team and one other teen are all part bird. Growing up in the School, they too are freed and eventually betrayed by Jeb. They go on to save the world along with-Max, Fang, Iggy, Nudge, Gazzy, and Angel. Rated T for all the fighting scenes.
1. Chapter 1

_Mystic Force Flock_

_Madison Tiffany-Crystal's POV_

Nick glanced at the five of us—we're not really his siblings, but we've grown up together since we were all babies. He's the oldest, so he has to look after the other five. He takes his responsibilities as leader pretty seriously. We were flying to Briarwood—the city named in the files we'd stolen from the Institute. Supposedly, our parents lived there. I'm the youngest—Elphaba—and I can both read minds and see into the future, sometimes—and they'd just rescued me from the School before going to the Institute, called to him, "Garrett, when we gonna get there?" "Soon," he called back. "See those buildings up ahead. That's gotta be Briarwood."

We—the flock—have two different identities—our flock nicknames and our names we use with people outside the flock—all six of us do. He's not sure about the girls. He's Garrett to the flock, but he's Nick to the outside world. Our brothers are Jacob to the flock, and he's Chip to the world, and James to the flock and he's Xander tot eh rest of the world. Our sisters are Madison and Vida—in the flock they're known as Alice and Leah—called Maddi and V by the rest of the world—and Madison Tiffany-Crystal—they call me Tiffany when we're interacting with outside people—actually I do have a flock name—it's something to do with _WICKED_—he think it's Elphaba—everyone else's names has something to do with _The Twilight Saga_. We call each other by our flock names when we're alone or when we're out of others' hearing.

Our ages are somewhere from fifteen to nineteen. Nick is nineteen, Jacob is eighteen, James is seventeen, Alice and Leah are both sixteen, and I'm fifteen, I think. We really don't keep track of our ages. Anyway, I was the cutoff point for my flock. There's a second one—Max's flock. It's divided the same way—three guys and three girls—the only difference is our flock has a guy as leader and her flock has a girl for a leader. In her flock there's Maximum, Max, Ride, Fang, Iggy, who is blind, Nudge, the Gasman or Gazzy or Gasser, and Angel—we rarely interacted with them when we were all at the School together and we still don't interact with each other even after we all escaped—Jeb helped all twelve of us get out. He separated the twelve of us into two different flocks. Max, Fang, and Iggy are all fifteen, Nudge is eleven, Gazzy is eight, and Angel is six. That's when the two flocks formed.


	2. Chapter 2

We landed, exhausted, in a small park, being careful to not be seen by anyone—we'd had a serious problem with that, back in New York, where the Institute was. Nick sighed and said, "Okay, guys, we made it. Let's find a sleep tonight and then tomorrow we'll start looking for your parents." The others nodded and he waited for the others to go to bed. Then I woke up, crying, and Nick quickly picked me up—I still behaved like a child sometimes—Alice says that I am going to have to grow up someday and that Garrett should stop treating like a little girl, but he can't help it—I mean, he'd practically raised me for my entire life.

He pushed my hair away from my face and said, "Elphaba, what's wrong?" I looked up at him and whispered, "Garrett, I don't wanna have to leave you guys—or for anyone to leave. I want us to stay together as one flock. I'm scared too, of meeting my parents. What if they don't want me?" He smiled at me gently and said, "Hey, we'll always be a family—no matter what. Besides, if they don't want you, you can stay with me." I smiled up at me and he said, "Now, try to get some sleep. You'll need it. Tomorrow's the big day." I quietly curled up and went to sleep and Nick eventually fell asleep as well.

The next morning, we all set out to check out the addresses we'd found at the Institute. Within minutes, we'd found everyone's parents—except for Nick's. We all got jobs at a store—the Rock Porium at the edge of town. Then there was an earthquake, and Nick yelled to the others. "Everyone down!" Chip, of course, said, that it was the end of the world. Nick glared at him and said, "Chip, shut up."

Nick looked around and called, "Guys! Report!" "I'm okay," Madison called. "Alright here," Xander, V, and Chip called. Nick picked up my coat, Madison joined him, and said, "Ohmigod, you lost Tiffany?" He glared at her and, scanning the store, she screamed, "ELPHABA! TIFFANY!" I staggered over to them and calmly asked, "Have you guys seen my coat?" Nick wrapped the coat around me and said, "Good thing you're safe, kiddo. Alice was ready to murder me." I giggled softly and then reached for Alice. Alice picked me up carefully and then our boss said, "Guys, you can have a little break—everyone's gonna be picking up." Nick glanced at us and said, "We'll just sit around outside."


	3. Chapter 3

Nick looked at us and said, "Guys, who's that—over there." We shrugged and we all cautiously approached him. Madison was still holding me. When he asked for help, we all volunteered, and when we were about to leave me alone, I almost started crying, and Nick said, "Madison, get Tiffany—she has to come with us—no one gets left behind in this flock." Madison nodded quietly and took my hand firmly. We all walked into the woods. Nick was a little worried when the old man vanished. Suddenly, we were ambushed. Nick looked at us and ordered, "Guys, battle up!" We all went into warrior mode, and then a cloaked figure arrived.

Five flying brooms appeared and when Chip, Xander, Madison, Vida, and Nick were taken away, I flew after us. I seemed to pick up speed suddenly, rocketing past us, but I looped back and rejoined the rest of us. We all stayed close together. Nick glanced at Madison and said, "Alice, get Elphaba's hand." I grabbed Alice's hand, and Alice quickly and reassuringly squeezed my hand. I smiled softly up at her older sister—apparently all three girls really were siblings—so it was just the guys who weren't related. When the cloaked figure arrived and Nick tensed, and began shoving the rest of us backwards. We soon entered this giant hollowed out tree. I whimpered softly. "Nick, I'm scared," I whispered to him. Nick nodded silently. "We'll be okay. It's alright. Everything's gonna be okay, I promise, Tiffany," Nick reassured me.

"Alright, who are you?" Nick demanded out of the woman. She smiled gently at us, and he pulled the others closer to me. We knew what that meant—get ready to possibly make a break for it. "I am the sorceress Udonna, and this is my home." she told us. "You are the Power Rangers." Nick raised my eyebrows and said, "Okay, so don't the Power Rangers save the world?" "Yes," she said slowly. "Then you've got the wrong group. You want the six younger kids—Max's group." Nick informed her. "Max is the one who is destined to save the world. Everyone else—the six of us—serve no real purpose." Nick finished lamely. Everyone was looking at him. Then I murmured, "I think we can trust her. She doesn't know about the School or the whitecoats—she's lived in the forest her whole life."

Nick nodded and said, "We can try, but there's no guarantee." Then he said, "I'm Nick Russell." Motioning to us he said our names, he was careful to use the outside world names—not the flock names—"This is Xander Bly, Chip Thorn, Vida, Madison, and the youngest, Madison Tiffany-Crystal Rocca." I remained silent and then, turning to the girls, "You are all siblings," Udonna stated, not asking. V and Maddi both nodded cautiously, but I hid between Madison. Nick sighed and said, "Tiffany's a bit shy. She always has been. We've looked out for each other. Right guys?" "Right," everyone else said.


	4. Chapter 4

Nick shot a quick glance at Madison, who still had a firm grip on my hand. He sighed. He was glad that we'd found our parents, but he was still alone. I shook my head and walked over to him. I took his hand and said, "We're your family, too." He grinned at me.

I suddenly paused and became a statue. He knew I'd just seen something and Nick knelt down in front of me. He was pretty sure what I'd just seen was pretty important. "Tiffany?" He called in a soft voice. "What is it? What's wrong?" He asked. The others quickly ran over and joined Nick and me. "Sis," Vida called hastily. I rejoined reality, much more slowly than normal. "What did you see?" Madison asked gently. I violently shook my head back and forth. He pulled a blank sheet of paper out of his bag and handed me a pen. Madison took my hands gently and asked, "Can you draw what your vision was?" I nodded cautiously and carefully took the pen and paper from Nick.

Nick watched as I carefully drew a village in flames. Udonna walked over and said, "That's the nearby village—where I was a child." We looked up at her and he sighed. Then a blonde-haired teen arrived and said, "Udonna! Come quickly! Woodland Village has been raided." Udonna grimaced and said, "Rangers, this is my apprentice, Claire. Claire, these are the rangers, Nick, Xander, Chip, Madison, Vida, and Tiffany. Do not underestimate them. I feel they have great power." Nick shrugged and we all waved and said hello. Turning to us, Udonna said, "Stay here. Do not go into the forest."

After a little while, Nick glanced at the rest of us, and said, "Let's go. Maybe we can help out at the village." Madison, Xander, Chip, Vida, and I all agreed. Claire tried to stop us, but turned herself into a sheep. Nick sighed and said, "C'mon, let's go." We all went to the village, prepared to help. Udonna didn't look thrilled to see us, but agreed to let us help. Then the same things that ambushed us earlier showed up again and everyone, except for me, was able to unlock their magic. Claire, who was still a sheep, brought me to the edge of the woods. Then it started snowing and she informed him that something bad had happened to her mentor. Nick stiffened and nearly wanted to go back, but then realized that the rest of us were safe—Xander was a very good second in command. He returned to Briarwood and sighed.


	5. Chapter 5

Nick looked around and knew that he needed to find a place to sleep for the night. He stared at the store, where everyone else was busy working—Madison had already explained to Toby that he needed sometime to do a little thinking. He was still staring at the store, when Udonna suddenly appeared. He grimaced. He looked at her and said, "I suppose I should apologize for my, er, my family's rudeness—it's just that we—the six of us—don't trust anyone, including you. I'm sorry." She nodded and said, "Apology accepted. Nick, the others look to you as their leader. Please, try to join us, if you can." Nick sighed and said, "I've seen a lot of things I wish I never had. We all have. We came here to be normal—not become superheroes, but I guess maybe we wanted to be the ones to save the world. I guess I could give it a try."

Udonna sighed and said, "Nick, listen to me. It's not something you can try. You truly have to believe." He nodded and said, "I don't know how to believe in magic—not after what's happened to me and the others." Nick abruptly clammed up, when he realized how he nearly revealed too much information about his past—he couldn't betray the others like that. She left, but before she left, she said, "Nick, you can believe if you let yourself." He shook my head a few times after she left.

_I am not a child now. I can take care of myself. I mustn't let them down now—mustn't let them see me cry. I'm fine, I'm fine. I'm too tired to listen. I'm too old to believe. All these childish stories. There is no such thing as faith and trust and pixie dust. I try, but I can't see what you see. I try, but it's so hard to believe. I try, I try, I try. I don't know where to turn. My whole world is changing. I can't leave you waiting, but I can't stay and watch the city burn. Ooo, watch it burn. 'Cause I try, but I can't see what you see. I try, but it's so hard to believe. I try, I try._

Nick decided to see which one of my friends would be willing to let me stay at their place 'til he found a place hw could call my own.

Nick looked up and saw the us run into the forest to help somewhere. He had to be with them—he was one of them—but he knew he couldn't. Then, when he saw we were in trouble, he raced to save us.

_I try and try to understand the distance in between the love I feel and the things I fear and every single dream. I can finally see it. Now I have to believe all those precious stories. All the world is made of faith and trust and pixie dust. So I'll try 'cause I finally believe. I'll try 'cause I can see what you see. I'll try. I'll try. I will try. I'll try. To fly._

Nick fought Koragg and he managed to win—this round—he knew he'd back though.


	6. Chapter 6

After the fight against Koragg, we all returned to Rootcore, which would be our main base. When Udonna asked what caused my opinion to change, Nick shrugged and said, "No one messes with my friends and gets away with it." We all nodded in silent agreement.

Nick looked at the others and, then facing Udonna, said, "We can handle this whole ' not tell anyone we're rangers' thing. Don't worry—we're experts at keeping secrets—right, guys?" I asked. "Right," we chorused.

Udonna sent the six of us back to the real world, and Nick said, "Guys, we still have one little problem—housing for me, remember?" They nodded and I looked at Alice and said, "Ask Mother and Father if Garrett can stay at our house."

Maddi did, but Nick ended up spending the night at James's house. That night, Nick talked to Xander's parents and asked, "Can I stick around here till I find a place of my own?" "Sure, Nick," his mother told me. "We wouldn't mind helping out one of Xander's friends."

Nick nodded in gratitude and slept on the couch. The next morning Xander and Nick returned to the Rock Porium. Madison, Vida, Chip, and I all joined Xander and Nick and Nick noticed how unhappy everyone looked. "What's wrong, guys?" he asked. I shuffled forward and mumbled something. He frowned and said, "Tiffany, what is it?" I wiped her nose on my sleeve and said, "'Snot the same." "What do you mean?" Nick asked, confused. "Back, before I was taken back to the School, we all lived together, as a family. I liked it better that way. I couldn't sleep at all last night, none of the four of us could." Then Xander shrugged and said, "I didn't sleep so well either." Nick nodded and said, "Okay, you guys tell your parents that you're staying at a friend's house." "Where?" the others all asked. "I'll go talk to Udonna and make sure we can stay with her instead—that way we're still together and we can help her keeping Rootcore clean and stuff." "You mean, chores?" Chip asked and Nick nodded. Then Nick said, "And you'd better do 'em." We nodded and he left.


	7. Chapter 7

Nick reached Rootcore and then he was greeted by Udonna. "Nick, welcome back," she said calmly. "What is it?" She asked worriedly. "Nothing," he said, shrugging casually. She raised her eyebrows and he asked, "Udonna, would it be possible for me and the rest of the team to come here, like live with you, instead of with their parents?" "Why don't they want to live with their parents?" she asked. Nick gulped and he said, "We've all grown up together, so being separated is way too difficult for all of us." She nodded and said, "Of course, you rangers can stay here with me." He held up his hands and said, "We _will_ help you around the house and everything—I'll make sure the others don't cause too much trouble as well." She smiled and said, "Nick, you and the rangers are like family to me." He smiled and said, "I'll tell the others." She nodded and he quickly rejoined the rest of us at the store where we were waiting for him.

"Okay, guys, Udonna said we could stay with her—get your things together and tell your parents that you're too used to living with me and we're going to stay at my parents' place for a while—until we've settled down." Nick glanced at me and said, "Yes, Tiffany?" "Nick, why are we lying? You don't even know who your parents are." I pointed out—like he should know that. "I know, but Udonna thinks of us as her children—and I think that she's willing to claim that one of us is her child and since it was my idea to stay with her, I get to pose as her child." He told me softly. I nodded and he said, "Let's get our stuff together."

We met up again at the Rock Porium, ready to head for Rootcore, when Nick stiffened—Erasers. He hissed, "Everyone, got your stuff?" We all nodded and he said, "Run for the woods—we'll meet at Rootcore—don't go there if you're being followed." We nodded and we split up, taking off running. Nick raced around Briarwood, desperately trying to lose the Erasers behind, until he plunged into the woods. Nick ran all the way to Rootcore and he soon rejoined the others. Udonna raised her eyebrows and he glanced at his jacket—torn. He groaned and said, "Torn, of course." I ran over to him and, after hugging him, said, "They're not gonna leave us alone ever, Nick." He nodded, angered that we were still being hunted by the School.


	8. Chapter 8

One day, Leelee, Necrolai's daughter, found us and told us about some sort of attack near the beach cave—we'd been planning to ask Udonna if we could spend the night there tonight. We raced to find out what it was, and we learned that Madison was scared of frogs—thanks to the whitecoats. "Guys, when your cage is right next to a guy who looks like a frog's cage, you're gonna be scared of frogs—you never know if they're actually really frogs or some freaky mutant." Madison said, defensively. I hugged her and Nick grabbed a lamp. We left and learned we had a genie with us. We told Udonna when she returned from a trip to a different village in the forest—not Woodland Village but some other village.

We also got a new mentor—Daggeron—he was the frog that saved Madison—after meeting Jester who was sent to distract while the new second in command—Imperious—tried to destroy the Xenotome—he failed, because the seven of us returned home to Rootcore. We also found the Fire Heart, who was the last dragon, and we got a genie, Jenji.


	9. Chapter 9

After we'd been living with Udonna for a few weeks, we met some other people who didn't like us very much—Morticon, who apparently led the Master's army—whoever that was—and Necrolai, queen of the vampires. There was also Koragg, who never actually killed us—I liked that, because he'd had several opportunities to kill us, and he never took them—that upset the others who fought alongside him, but it helped us a lot.

We also learned that Claire was really powerful too—that she was the Gatekeeper. Necrolai and Koragg both tried to kidnap her, and use her power to free Morticon, but thanks to Udonna, we were able to free Claire and save the world. Then we also destroyed Morticon in the process—that was good. It would slow the darkness down somewhat, or so we thought. We would eventually learn how wrong that idea was. They were able to get a new second in command—Imperious—because of a mistake Nick made on accident when we were at the beach cave—we wouldn't be spending the night there after all. We had to find a way to stop Imperious.

We worked really hard at our jobs and when we were at Rootcore, after training, we would sneak outside, and go for a quick flight right before bed—that was part of our nightly ritual—Max and her flock had a stack-and-tap thing—our flock went flying.


	10. Chapter 10

Xander didn't really get along with Daggeron—Xander thought Daggeron was too strict with us, and I said, "Xander, this is the first time since Jeb died that we've actually had an adult looking out for us." "Tiffany has a point," Madison said. Nick nodded and said, "Xander, do I have to throw you out a window or something?" Xander scowled and refused to listen to us.

Then Daggeron came and took us on a field trip—he didn't know we were all claustrophobic, so when we finally reached our destination, we were all ready to murder each other. "Okay, guys, we're here," Daggeron called to us. "Can we get off this train?" Nick called back. "Yes!" Daggeron said. "How?" We all screamed at the same time. Daggeron came and as he opened the door, I sent a thought message to him. _Jump back, unless you want to get run over—we are definitely getting off this train—and there's no guarantee you won't get hurt._ He backed away from the door, after letting us out of the train. We all just jumped off the train, trying not to scream. We looked at each other and Nick hissed to the five of us, "I think we're all in agreement—we're going to walk back to Rootcore, if that's possible. If not, we fly." We handed our morphers over to Daggeron—I realized suddenly that Nick was serious about making us fly home. I looked around and Nick calmly cut slits in the backs of our shirts for our wings, so if necessary, we could fly.

We wandered around and one by one, the others disappeared. Soon, it was just Xander, and he did save us and he finally believed me. I sighed and said, "Guys, Daggeron was just being strict with us, because he cares—he doesn't want us to get hurt the way—" "Jeb cared," Nick finished, softly. We all sighed and, after getting the ticket to the train back, I said, "This is gonna be fun." We rejoined Daggeron in the human world and helped him fight a spider monster—it scarily reminded of something that we'd seen at the School—I didn't say anything to anyone, though.

After Fireheart and Jenji both rejoined us, Udonna learned that her son was somewhere in the human world, unaware that he was really one of the rangers—that he was one of us.


	11. Chapter 11

One day, I joined Nick outside the store, during our break. I looked at Nick and said, "Garrett, I think we can trust Udonna—she lost her son—and husband—nineteen years ago—you're nineteen." "What do you mean?" He asked. I sighed and said, "Nick, think about it. You're the only one on the team who's old enough to even be considered as someone who might be her son." He sighed and said, "There is nothing about me in the files—you know that." I nodded and, holding out the laptop I'd stolen from the Institute, I hissed, "Nick, I've tried to find out more about the forest and its' inhabitants—and nothing comes up—and sometimes I can't even find anything on the rest of us—the five who did have files back at the Institute." "What are you saying?" Nick asked, anxiously. "Anyone in the forest—as far as the School is concerned—does not exist." I said softly. "So, as far as the whitecoats know, you didn't exist until you came to the School." Nick rolled his eyes and ruffled my hair, saying, "Elphaba, there's no way to prove it. Let's get back to work." I nodded and he added, "And not one word to Udonna—I don't want to get her hopes up." I nodded silently, but knowing the truth.

I paused suddenly and Nick sighed. "Elphaba, what is it?" he asked. "Garrett, if I'm right, can Alice, Leah, and I go to the beach?" I asked. Nick laughed and said, "Sure thing, kiddo." I grinned and said, "Race ya back to the store." He laughed again and we returned to work.

That night, after training, we just started flying around, stretching our wings, and Nick motioned to me to fly a little higher than the others. He pointed to them and said, "I don't want anyone to hear our conversation, Elphaba." I nodded and he asked, "How do you know about Udonna's family—her son and husband, specifically, since she's never mentioned anyone except for Niella being her sister and that Claire was her niece?" I sighed and said, "Garrett, I'm a mind reader, remember? I can't control it—I don't know how. She thinks about her husband sometimes, especially before she goes to take a nap. And when she's watching you training, she thinks that you remind her of what she'd imagined her son being like, Garrett." Nick nodded and said, "Let's rejoin the others." I grinned and after we rejoined the others, Nick said, "Okay, one last lap around Rootcore, and the forest, and then it's time for bed." We all groaned and looped around Rootcore, and the forest, scanning for any signs of danger and found nothing. We returned to Rootcore, and hurried inside, and went to bed.


	12. Chapter 12

A few days later, Udonna, Madison, Vida, Xander, Nick, and I were all watching Chip train with Daggeron. Daggeron said, "Chip is doing very well in his training. Soon he'll as good as a knight as myself." Chip, unthinkingly blurted out, "Maybe I'll even be as good as Lianbow." We all stared at him and I thought, _Nick, now we find out the truth of who you are._ Nick shook his head, slightly, at me. I rolled my eyes and Nick glared at me and Udonna shook her head and said, "No, Daggeron. It's time the rangers learned the entire story."

We all went to the balcony and sat down. We were going to learn a lot about our history as the rangers. "As you know, nineteen years ago, there was a war between the forces of the darkness and the forces of the light, known as the Great Battle. Led by my husband, Lianbow, the five other mystic warriors fought fiercely against the darkness. At the time, Lianbow and I had a son. His name was Bowen. In order to protect him, we had to send him away. During the very last battle when Niella sealed the gate, trapping Lianbow, and the Master, inside, I gave my son to Daggeron to take Bowen to safety." Daggeron then continued the story. "I was attacked by Calindor. We thought he was our friend. He had come to us saying he could help us. We believed him, but learned that we were wrong. We now know that Phineas found baby Bowen and got him safely into the human world." We all nodded and Nick asked, "But what happened to Bowen?" "We don't know. We do know that until the darkness is completely defeated and the Master is destroyed, we can never search for him." Udonna said, sadly. We all nodded and Udonna ordered, "Do not tell anyone what I have told you." We nodded and went to the beach.

I went to the water and said, "I feel awful." "Me too," Madison agreed. Vida, Chip, and Xander all nodded their heads in agreement. Nick grabbed a pebble, threw it into the ocean, and asked, "Why are we all feeling so guilty?" I sighed and said, "Nick, think about it. Udonna's been nothing but honest with us since she'd met us and we've lied to her and we've deceived her and we've hidden things from her and we've never told her the whole truth. She's been really honest with us and we, we've lied to her, Nick. The worst part is that she's been treating us as if we were her kids, and we don't trust her." Nick nodded and said, "Someday, after she's been reunited with her son—we know he's alive—we have no clue where but we've got time—and after defeating the Master, we'll find her son, we'll tell her the truth. Agreed?" "Agreed," the rest of us said. I sighed and said, "Nick, your time is limited—you'll be the first among the bird-kids to die." Nick looked at me and said, "Is this about our expiration dates?" "Yeah, pretty much," I said.


	13. Chapter 13

One day, Daggeron was in trouble, so the six of us, all raced to help him. Nick and Daggeron fought Imperious, while Chip, Xander, Madison, Vida, and I all fought Koragg. We defeated Imperious and Koragg and Daggeron grinned at us and said, "Next time, Claire can gather the herbs Udonna needs." We all grinned and returned to work—more like our paint war. I looked at my clothes and laughed and said, "Nick, guess what?" "What?" he asked. "For once, my clothes are red, but it's not blood." I said eagerly. He grinned and hugged me. We thought the mural was horrid, but our boss, Toby, loved it, and Xander claimed that he'd supervised us, so we all ganged up on him.

Later, we were called out to fight Koragg and as we were fighting, another one of Imperious' monsters appeared. It was the Chimera. I glanced at the others and Koragg transported us to the pit. I grimaced and Nick hissed, "Todo ustedes." Xander hissed at me, "Egway." Chip added, "Allay." I shook my head and said, "Neckerchu." Koragg cocked his head, clearly confused. Madison shifted and said, "Pinwheel." I nodded and shot back, "Cholla first." Vida calmly said, "Count of three." We all stiffened and Nick said, "One." We all sprang onto the attack. We were finally stopped by Imperious and he laughed, saying, "No one can save the rangers now." I growled and Nick said, "We don't need our magic to fight back—we can fight with or without our powers." I grinned and thought, _Nick is so right._

Udonna got really worried about us and when she realized that we were in the pit, she used a spell from the book of dark magic—she technically wasn't supposed to do that. When she arrived, she freed us, but then the Master started torturing her and I thought, _Just stop it. Leave her alone!_ Koragg suddenly freed Udonna and broke the spell holding us hostage, and we learned his true identity—he was Lianbow. I frowned, angered. I looked at Nick, Chip, Xander, Madison, and Vida, and we all nodded our heads in agreement—we did not trust Lianbow. Imperious attacked us and Lianbow blocked it and cast a spell to get us of the pit. "Uthay soseray!" Lianbow chanted.


	14. Chapter 14

We all stood there, a little confused. Chip held up his hand and said, "Let me see if I've got this straight. Lianbow was Koragg and Koragg was Lianbow and one of them or both of them just saved our lives?" Lianbow grinned at us and said, "Um, yeah, pretty much." We just glared at him—we did not trust him. Udonna walked over to her husband and said, "I trust you. I know it's really you." We all sat down and Lianbow began to tell us his story.

"After Niella sealed the gate, trapping me inside, the fighting was very fierce. I eventually made it to the Master. Determined not to be defeated entirely, he took control of me and turned me into Koragg, his most loyal fighter. All of my memories as Lianbow were erased entirely. I feel awful now about all the times I've tried to kill the six of you and I'm so sorry. Can you possibly forgive me?" Madison, Chip, Vida, Xander, and I all looked at Nick. Nick shook his head at Lianbow. "We can't forgive you, Lianbow," Nick said slowly. "At least, not right now, maybe someday." Udonna smiled and said, "Of course, I forgive you." She suddenly fell and we all sprang to our feet. Lianbow asked, "What happened?" I froze and knew her answer, before she spoke. "I used a spell from the Book of Dark Magic to save the rangers." She told Lianbow. We all frowned and I thought, _Why?_ Udonna turned to me and said, "Because the six of you are a part of my family now." She said. We all nodded and Nick said, "Send her back to Rootcore."

Lianbow sent Udonna back to Rootcore and we all got ready to fight again. Lianbow was captured by the Master and turned back into Koragg. Then, after the five of us—Madison, Chip, Xander, Vida, and I—all helped Nick defeat the Chimera, Lianbow returned as Koragg and fought Nick. We were all pretty worried about Nick, because he was the oldest of us, and we needed him to survive, because we wanted to know when his expiration date would show up, because that would give us an approximation of how long we had to live.

Udonna arrived and yelled, "Lianbow! Stop!" Nick, Madison, Vida, Chip, Xander and I all watched as she ran over to Koragg and lowered his sword. "This is Bowen." She said, looking right at Koragg. "Our son. Your son." Koragg looked stunned, and I thought, _Nick, Madison, Vida, and I are going to the beach tonight._ Nick rolled his eyes and struggled to his feet. He couldn't believe it—he'd found his parents.

Nick hugged Udonna tightly and bit his lip. Lianbow came over and hugged Udonna again and Nick grinned eagerly—he'd found his parents. I looked at the others and said, "We should go." I froze and suddenly screamed. Madison spun and looked at me. Vida, Chip, Nick, Lianbow, and Xander all scanned the surrounding area. Nick looked up and growled when he saw Erasers falling from the sky. He glared at them and ordered, "Guys, battle up." We all nodded and immediately went into fight mode. We raced toward the Erasers.

Lianbow came over and tried to help us and Nick yelled, "Don't fight fair, guys! Remember what Jeb taught us!" We all nodded and I screamed again. Nick whirled and raced to help me. Lianbow yelled, "Nick! Be careful!" Nick was yanked back by three Erasers, and he scanned the area. Udonna was pinned by one Eraser and a second Eraser was pinning Lianbow. Nick glared at the Erasers holding me and said, "Let my parents go!" The Eraser punched him the stomach and he collapsed. Ari came over and asked, "Remember me, Garrett?" "Ari?" Nick gasped out, before everything went black..

Nick struggled to his feet and called, "Guys, report." Madison, Chip, Xander, and Vida all got up and called, "We're all fine." "Mom? Dad?" Nick called, uncertainly. Udonna sat up and said, "I'm okay, but where is Lianbow?" Nick scanned the area and called, "Dad? Dad!" Lianbow called, "Rangers, come here—there's something you should see." We all ran and limped over to Lianbow. Nick looked at the remaining five rangers and, turning to Udonna, he said, "Mom, Dad, I'm sorry you had to find out this way." Then he ordered, "Okay, guys, U and A." One by one, the others sprang off the cliff and disappeared. They caught up with the Erasers, at the School, but Nick, Xander, and Chip were all captured. I was stuck in a cage, and Nick was dumped into the crate right next to me. I grinned weakly at him, and he saw the bruise on the left side of my face. Then Nick saw Jeb. Nick staggered and choked out, "But you're dead." Jeb shook his head and we all realized the awful truth—Jeb was one of them. We were taken into the yard and we all panicked. Madison and Vida came and helped the four of us to escape. Lianbow also came as well. Nick grabbed Lianbow and said, "You're going to have to trust me, Dad." "I do, Nick. It's you who doesn't trust me." Lianbow replied. Nick sighed and said, "I promise, someday I will, Dad, someday, I will." Then Jeb tried to get us to stay at the School and Nick said, "Let's get outta here, guys." We all rocketed out of there.

We rejoined Udonna and learned that the Master was coming back. We all reached for our morphers, but Lianbow shook his head and said, "This is my fight." We all watched, helplessly as Lianbow returned to face the Master. Nick stood next to his mother and Daggeron came back again. "Imperious is gone, guys," he told us. We all nodded and he glanced first at Nick and then he looked confused. "What now?" he asked. Nick grinned and said, "I found my parents." Daggeron looked at him and turning to Udonna, who said, "It's true. Nick is Bowen." Nick sighed and asked, "Can we go home?" Daggeron nodded and we all prepared to return to Rootcore. I looked at Nick, who said, "Yes, you and Alice and Leah can all go to the beach tonight—just be careful." "Alice? Leah?" Udonna repeated, confused. Nick grinned and said, "Long story. I'll explain once we get home."

We went back to the balcony where we'd first learned about the entire Great Battle. Nick took a deep breath and began. "Yes, Phineas did get me into the human world, but the danger had only begun. We were attacked by Erasers, or wolf-men hybrids—those things that attacked us earlier. I was taken to the School and I hated it. I lived in a cage, and lived in terror, wishing to die. We all did. It was there I first Xander and then Chip and then Vida and Madison and then Tiffany and then Max and then Fang and then Iggy and then Nudge and then Gasman and finally Angel. The twelve of us were freed by Jeb—the traitor—and we split into two groups—my group and Max's group—in my group there was me, obviously, James, Jacob, Alice, Leah, and Elphaba. In Max's group, there was Maximum, Max, Ride, Fang Ride, Iggy Ride, Nudge Ride, the Gasman Ride, and Angel Ride. He encouraged us to name ourselves, so we came up with two different names—he helped me get my baby blanket back too—I became Garrett Pennington or Nick Russell." Xander stepped forward and said, "I became James Pennington or Xander Bly." Chip stepped forward and said, "I became Jacob Pennington or Chip Thorn." Madison stepped forward and said, "I became Alice Pennington or Madison Rocca." Vida stepped forward and said, "I became Leah Pennington or Vida Rocca." I finally stepped forward and said, "And I became Elphaba Pennington or Madison Tiffany-Crystal Rocca." Nick sighed and said, "Jeb took care of us, treated us as if we were his kids, taught us to lie, taught us how to fight—street fighting—that's why the whole fighting fair thing is so hard for us—it's the exact opposite of how we were trained. We'd trusted him and we learned how to survive. We regret trusting him now." Daggeron and Udonna nodded and I noticed how upset Udonna looked. Nick glanced over at us and said, "While the six of us were at the school, we became only partly human—98% human and 2% bird—we all have wings and we can only accept blood from each other or someone from Max's group. Like birds, our red blood cells have nuclei in them. One of the Erasers that attacked us, Ari, was Jeb's son. He's only seven-years-old." Udonna got up and hugged Nick and holding him firmly, said, "Rangers, you can trust me." Nick grinned and said, "We do trust you, Mom. We really do. That's why we felt awful about you not knowing about the School—although we do hate having to tell about it." Nick suddenly pointed to my face and said, "That bruise there—getting a bruise at the School was fairly normal for one of us. The whitecoats were cruel to us. Usually, if we didn't like them, we'd bite them. That was the only defense we truly had. Sometimes we punched them. We'd fight back anyway that we could. We'd dreamed of getting out of there and never going back. Our biggest dream until I was sixteen, James and Jacob were fifteen, Alice and Leah were thirteen, and Elphaba was twelve—so about three years ago—was getting out of the School and not living in cages—yeah, since you now know the truth—around here, I'll refer to the others by their flock names—James, Jacob, Alice, Leah, and Elphaba—you can call them by their flock names too."

I looked at Nick and he nodded, and I said, "I have something to say." I stepped forward and said, "The thing is, I've known for a while about who Nick really is—that he is your son, Udonna. Your thoughts gave your suspicions away—I can read minds. So, I tried to explain to Nick my suspicions, but didn't get very far—he didn't believe me. I told him what I could—that the School didn't think he existed until his arrival. Anyway, as long as we're in the forest—from the School's POV—we don't exist. That's why there was nothing about Nick in the files from the Institute for Higher Living, because he didn't exist, but he did. You see, at the School, it's very scientific—experiments and stuff."

Then Nick stepped forward again and said, "Yeah, the School's was terrible—we all hated it. I remember it, because I can't help it. A lot of the experiments died. They were non-viable—that means that they wouldn't last. The most viable out of all the mutants are the Erasers and the bird-kids." Udonna and Daggeron nodded in silent horror.


	15. Chapter 15

Then Madison, Vida, Chip, Xander, and I all left Rootcore after we'd told Udonna the truth. I grinned and said, "Guys, I feel a whole lot better now that Udonna knows the truth." They all nodded in agreement. Turning to Madison and Vida, I said, "We're gonna go to the beach tonight—Nick and I made a deal that if I was right that he was Udonna's son, the three of us would get to go to the beach—sides, we still have to find out if you can breathe underwater." Madison grinned and Vida said, "Yeah, and let's scare the living daylights out of Nick and Udonna and Daggeron and Claire—no thank you." I scowled and said, "Guys, we were designed to survive—you know that—even with the expiration dates. We need to know what our skills are, so that when the world blows up, we're able to protect those who can't protect themselves." The others all crowded around me and Xander, while giving me a pointed look, said, "I'll call Nick—tell him that someone has some pretty important information for us."

Nick was talking to Daggeron about Lianbow when Udonna came in and said, "Bowen, didn't I tell you to clean this room?" Nick grinned and laughed and then said, "Great. I find my mom and two seconds later, I'm getting chores." Daggeron grinned and also left to give Nick and Udonna some alone time so they could talk. Nick froze, when his morpher went off—he answered it and asked, "Trouble?" "No, well, yes, Garrett—it's both." Nick scowled and asked, "Well, will you make up your mind? Which is it—trouble or not?" Xander sighed and said, "We'll come back to Rootcore—everyone might want hear this." Nick nodded and said, "Mom, um, the others are coming back and I don't know why—I think there might be trouble, but I'm not really sure."

We returned to Rootcore, and I looked sheepishly up at Nick. "What happened, rangers?" Udonna and Daggeron both asked. "Why does everyone have to be here for this meeting?" Nick asked. "Because this is about more than just this flock—it involves everyone," Xander said. "Okay, Tiffany, you can explain." "Um, well, the six of us were designed to survive some disaster—and we have different skills. One skill that we will all eventually share is the ability to breathe underwater—I was the first to develop this ability. Anyway, the whitecoats at the School are completely convinced that the world is going to blow up." "Who can do that?" Udonna asked, looking worriedly at her son—at Nick. "Lotta nations got big powerful bombs—the School think it's gonna be one company though—um, Itex, or something like that." "Was this stuff people said or stuff people thought?" Nick asked. "Stuff people thought." I said. "Oh, and before the world blows up, they wanna eliminate everyone who's unnecessary." Nick paused and said, "Itex—that name—it sounds familiar—like I've heard it or seen it somewhere." Nick closed his eyes and said, "Computer?" "I opened the laptop we'd gotten from the Institute and typed in "Itex" and a whole bunch of stuff came up. Nick glared at the screen and said, "Guys, we're in trouble—serious trouble—almost everything we own was made by Itex—except for our uniforms here in the forest." "What does this mean?" Udonna asked. "Itex has been taking over the world, slowly, but they noticed this at least nineteen years ago and have been building a bird-kid army to save the world," Nick said firmly.


	16. Author's Note

_**A/N. Hey guys, listen up. I have a poll for deciding who gets sacrificed to Max's wrath and tells her that Angel's missing. So far, no one, besides me, has voted on it. So vote for who you want to sacrifice to Max's wrath or I won't update this story anymore and you'll never know Max's reaction, if Angel is found, and if the person is killed. It's on my profile and if no one else votes, the person I voted for to be the sacrifice will be the one sent. I want someone to say I think so-and-so should face Max. So go vote.  
**_


	17. Author's Note 2

**_A/N. Hey guys, thanks for all the votes so far. We're halfway done. Just 50 more votes and you'll learn who gets sacrificed to Max's wrath. So be sure to vote.  
_**


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